THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

CARROT PUDDING

1 cup grated carrot

1     “     “       potato

1     “   Suet or butter

1     “   of raisins

1     “    “  currants

1 ¾ “    “  flour

1 teaspoon of soda

2     “         ” mixed spice

1 cup of Sugar

2 eggs, salt

Steam 2 hours.

~Stewart, Louisa Marshall. Mrs. Stewart’s Recipe Book – handwritten. Loaned by Ialeen Norsworthy and compiled by her mother. Hamilton, Ontario: from the late 1800’s.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp. powdered ginger
• ¼ tsp. allspice
• ¼ tsp. powdered cloves
• 1 ¾ c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 c. currants
• 1 c. raisins
• 1 c. grated raw carrot
• 1 c. grated raw potato
• 1 tsp. baking soda.

Grease a four-cup pudding mould with butter.

Clean and measure the currants and raisins.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and salt together, until light and smooth.

Beat each egg lightly with a fork, and add them one at a time to the creamed mixture; beat well after each addition.

Sift the flour and measure it.

Add a spoonful of the flour to the currants and raisins, to coat them and prevent their sticking together.

Add the spices to the remaining flour, and sift together.

Add the blended flour and spices in portions to the batter mixture;  beat in well with a wooden spoon after each addition.

Add the currants and raisins, and stir them in well, to distribute them evenly.

Peel, grate and measure the carrot, and add it to the batter;  blend in thoroughly.

Peel, grate and measure the potato; add the baking soda to it, and mix together thoroughly; then add immediately to the batter, and beat in well.  (Work quickly with the potato, to prevent it from darkening.)

Pour the batter into the buttered pudding mould, and steam the pudding, covered with a lid, over boiling water, for two hours.

Serve hot, accompanied by a sauce, such as Lemon Sauce.  Alternatively, cool the cake and ice with a cream cheese icing.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

This pudding is light in texture, and delicious in flavour; it will delight lovers of carrot cake and carrot muffins.

A note from Patricia: With Easter approaching, I was feeling like a carrot cake would be an appropriate recipe to try, and so this Carrot Pudding was next on my list of recipes to attempt from my aunt’s cookbook. I was eager to use my “pudding bowl” again, and decided to steam this in my crockpot vs. on the stovetop as it seemed easier and required less monitoring. I was skeptical that all of the ingredients would fit into a 4-cup pudding bowl, but they magically did (although it was filled to the brim), and so I popped that pudding bowl into the crockpot along with about 3 inches of water. I greased a piece of parchment paper, laid it on top of a similar-sized piece of tin foil, gave it an accordian fold in the centre, and then laid this over the pudding bowl (parchment side down), and tied it around with a piece of string. The accordian fold would allow the parchment and tin foil to expand as the pudding rose (which I was assuming it would do). And yes, indeed it did! I cooked it in the crockpot on high for about 3.5 hours, and once cooked, I turned it over onto a plate to cool. After that, I whipped up some cream cheese frosting, and set about decorating the pudding. I piped some little carrots on top with coloured icing to make this little cake extra special, and attempted some fancy piping around the bottom. How did it taste? Absolutely delicious. Spicy, moist, sweet, buttery…. all the good things! The sweetness of the carrots paired beautifully with the raisins, and each bite was comforting and delightful. The cream cheese icing was a great choice, although the Lemon Sauce would be a super tasty topping, as would a vanilla sauce or a caramel sauce.

EASTER.

At an Easter party, dainty little egg-shaped boxes, filled with bon-bons, may be placed at each plate, or else hidden in a room from which the lighter articles of furniture have been removed, and the children permitted to search for them.

~Cooke, Maude C. Social Etiquette or Manners and Customs of Polite Society. London, Ontario: McDermid & Logan, 1896.

COLOURING AND DYEING EGGS. – Eggs can be easily dyed for Easter, etc….. Eggs can be coloured brown by boiling them in strong coffee, and yellow with onion peeling. ….. A little butter or oil rubbed over the egg when it is sufficiently cool to handle, after being boiled, gives it a nice bright look.

~Smiley’s Cook Book and Universal Household Guide. Chicago: Smiley Publishing Company, 1901. “The Toronto Daily Star Edition”